[JRG]

There are a couple of issues with the nomenclature and use of the Profile.

One's Profile has a section called "Other". It allows one to say something about oneself (this is, after all, in a "Profile"). Very soon after BBO launched and started to gain in popularity, people started using this area to list conventions/systems they played. As the number of BBO members sky-rocketed, this was completely understandable for people who were happy playing with random/unknown partners.

This usage now appears to be the norm. However, it is unsatisfactory:

There really does need to be an area for members to make a few comments about themselves (e.g. "I dislike slow play" or "I do not like playing bridge with anonymous people").

Similarly, there is a real need to be able to indicate which bidding system/conventions a member uses. Surely a dedicated area for that purpose makes a lot of sense. As well, many people have said the "Other" area is rather restrictive when listing conventions, etc. (i.e. too few characters can be typed in). I would suggest making it a bit larger, but not much. It's purpose would be to provide a general idea of what a person plays, not a detailed description (use a Convention Card for that purpose).

[barmar]

As long as half our users continue to use the old version, it's difficult for us to make changes like this.

[Bbradley62]

Could it not be that users of the legacy system get the legacy profile and users of the current system get the proposed improved profile? It might even be a (small) incentive for legacy version users to try the current.

[barmar]

The issue isn't what kind of profile the player has, but what kind they can see. If an old version user has a new version partner, they won't be able to see everything in their partner's profile.

[TylerE]

Surely this could be faked by the system?

For instance, when a player with the new profile sits with a partner using the old client, the system generates a chat message with a link that opens a browser window to display the profile, much as is done for BBO news.

[barmar]

Yeah, something like that could be done. I was thinking more along the lines of what happens when you're just mousing over the player's name and the profile pops up. You wouldn't want it chatting their profile info all the time when you do that.

[steve2005]

people are free to use the space for more general comments. lots do.
there is also a spot on the profile for your favourite convention card which almost no one uses. perhaps that could be replaced by a checklist of conventions used